The present invention relates to gas lighters, and more particularly to a gas lighter with dual safety mechanism, which comprises a stop mechanism controlled by a lever to stop the ignition button of the gas lighter from triggering the electric arc generator of the gas lighter and moving the gas lever of the fuel tank in opening the fuel gas outlet.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,563 discloses a gas lighter with dual safety mechanism, which was filed on Oct. 12, 1999 and issued to the present inventor on Mar. 9, 2000. This structure of gas lighter 1, as shown in FIG. 1, comprises a substantially rectangular handgrip 10 with a tube 12 at its one end, a fuel tank 14 and an electric arc generator 16 mounted inside the handgrip 10. The fuel tank 14 has a gas outlet 142 connected to a gas nozzle in the tube 12 (not shown) by a gas hose 144, and a gas lever 146 adapted to close/open the gas outlet 142. The handgrip 10 has an opening 18. An ignition button 19 is suspended in the handgrip 10 and partially projecting out of the opening 18. The bottom side of the ignition button 19 faces the actuator 162 of the electric arc generator 16. The electric arc generator 162 has a first electrode 164 connected to the gas nozzle, and a second electrode 166 connected to the tube 12. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the stop mechanism 2 is provided between the ignition button 19 and the fuel tank 14 inside the handgrip 10. The stop mechanism 2 comprises a base frame 20 pivoted to the handgrip 10, a lever 22 inserted through a hole on the handgrip 10 and connected to the base frame 20, a first spring element 202 adapted to return the base frame 20 after the lever 22 being pressed and then released, a link 24 slidably coupled to the base frame 20 and aimed at the ignition button 19, and a second spring element 242 adapted to return the link 24 after the link 24 being pressed and then released. When turning the lever 22 of the stop mechanism 2 to move the link 24 to the fuel tank 14 and then pressing the ignition button 19, the link 24 is forced downwards against the gas lever 146, causing the fuel tank 14 to release fuel gas through the gas hose 144 to the gas nozzle, and at the same time the actuator 162 of the electric arc generator 16 is triggered to generate an electric arc around the gas nozzle, and therefore a flame is produced at the gas nozzle. If the lever 22 of the stop mechanism 2 is not turned to the unlocking position before pressing the ignition button 19, the down stroke of the ignition button 19 can only trigger the electric arc generator 16 to generate an electric arc without opening the gas outlet 142 of the fuel tank 14. However, this design is still not satisfactory in function. Because the actuator 162 of the an electric arc generator 16 will be triggered when pressing the ignition button 19 without turning the lever 22 of the stop mechanism 2 to the unlocking position, the gas lighter 1 is still not safe in use. When a child plays with the gas lighter and presses the ignition button 19 by an accident, an electric arc will be produced, and the child may be injured by the electric arc.
The invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. According to one aspect of the present invention, the gas lighter comprises a stop mechanism disposed between the ignition button and fuel tank of the gas lighter and adapted to stop the ignition button from triggering the electric arc generator of the gas lighter and moving the gas lever of the fuel tank in opening the fuel gas outlet. The stop mechanism comprises a base frame, two spring-supported links slidably mounted on the base frame and adapted for pressing by the ignition button to press the electric arc generator and the gas lever, and a lever extended from the base frame to the outside of the gas lighter for turning by hand to move the links in and out of the working position. According to another aspect of the present invention, if the gas lever is not turned to move the links to the working position, the ignition button does not drive the actuator of the electric arc generator and the gas lever of the fuel tank when pressed, and therefore neither electric arc is produced nor fuel gas is discharged out of the fuel tank at this time. Because no electric arc is produced when pressing the ignition button before turning the lever of the stop mechanism to move the links to the working position, the gas lighter will not be triggered to generate an electric arc by an accident.